Vers Fontein/Jan Willem Fontein: Capitanian, South Africa
collected by W. G. Atherstone
List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
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Reptilia
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Bradysaurus seeleyi
Haughton and Boonstra 1929
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Boonstra 1969 | 2 specimens | ||||||||
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Pareiasaurus bombidens n. sp.
Owen 1876
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1 individual | |||||||||
| nomen vanum belonging to Pareiasauria | ||||||||||
| BMNH R1714 (type; formerly 53525) | ||||||||||
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Titanosuchidae
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Jonkeria ingens
(Broom 1923)
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Boonstra 1969 | 1 specimen | ||||||||
| original and current combination Dinophoneus ingens | ||||||||||
| "humerus" | ||||||||||
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Tapinocephalidae
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Phocosaurus megischion n. sp.
Seeley 1888
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Boonstra 1969 | |||||||||
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Therocephalia
- Pristerognathidae
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Scymnosaurus ferox
Broom 1903
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Boonstra 1969 | 1 specimen | ||||||||
| "skull" | ||||||||||
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Pristerognathus sp.
Seeley 1895
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Boonstra 1969 | 1 specimen | ||||||||
| "skull" | ||||||||||
| see common names | ||||||||||
Geography
| Country: | South Africa | State/province: | Western Cape | County: | Prince Albert |
| Coordinates: | 32.9° South, 22.1° East (view map) | ||||
| Paleocoordinates: | 59.8° South, 35.3° West | ||||
| Basis of coordinate: | estimated from map | ||||
| Geographic resolution: | small collection |
Time
| Period: | Permian | Epoch: | Guadalupian |
| Stage: | Capitanian | 10 m.y. bin: | Permian 4 |
| Key time interval: | Capitanian | Zone: | Tapinocephalus or Pristerognathus Assemblage |
| Age range of interval: | 264.28000 - 259.51000 m.y. ago |
Stratigraphy
| Geological group: | Beaufort | Formation: | Abrahamskraal | ||
| Stratigraphic resolution: | bed | ||||
| Stratigraphy comments: "Kitching (1977) assigns Vers Fontein to the middle Tapinocephalus zone and Jan Willem Fontein to the low Tapinocephalus zone." (Lee, 1997). This corresponds to the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone and the transition to the Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone of Rubidge et al. (1995, South African Committee for Stratigraphy, Biostratigraphic Series No. 1).
Both Tapinocephalus and Pristerognathus AZs are Capitanian according to Catuneanu et al. (2005, J. Afr. Earth Sci. 43). Since the locality is west of 24°E it very likely is within the Abrahamskraal Fm. (see Catuneanu et al., 2005 figs. 24, 25). | |||||
Lithology and environment
| Primary lithology: | sandstone | ||
| Secondary lithology: | claystone | ||
| Lithology description: "fining-upward succession of sandstones and purple mudstones containing numerous thin chert bands and rich tetrapod faunas" (general lithology description of the Abrahamskraal Fm. in Catuneanu et al., 2005, J. Afr. Earth Sci. 43). | |||
| Environment: | "floodplain" | Tectonic setting: | foreland basin |
| Geology comments: " [...] deposited mainly by overbank flooding of large meandering rivers of variable sinuosity, draining an extensive alluvial plain [...]" (Catuneanu et al., 2005). | |||
Taphonomy
| Modes of preservation: | body |
| Size of fossils: | macrofossils |
| Articulated whole bodies: | none |
Collection methods and comments
| Collection methods: | survey of museum collection |
| Reason for describing collection: | taxonomic analysis |
| Museum repositories: | BMNH |
| Collectors: | W. G. Atherstone |
Metadata
| Also known as: | type locality of "Pareisaurus bombidens" | ||
| Database number: | 93086 | ||
| Authorizer: | J. Mueller, A. Dunhill | Enterer: | T. Liebrecht, B. Allen |
| Modifier: | T. Liebrecht | Research group: | vertebrate |
| Created: | 2009-12-31 09:20:42 | Last modified: | 2010-01-04 05:26:20 |
| Access level: | the public | Released: | 2009-12-31 09:20:42 |
| Creative Commons license: | CC BY | ||
Reference information
Primary reference:
| 29616. | M. S. Y. Lee. 1997. A taxonomic revision of pareiasaurian reptiles: implications for Permian terrestrial paleoecology. Modern Geology 21:231-298 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/M. Carrano] |
Secondary references:
| 67683 | L. D. Boonstra. 1969. The fauna of the Tapinocephalus Zone (Beaufort Beds of the Karoo). Annals of the South African Museum 56(1):1-73 [A. Dunhill/B. Allen] |